As the Federal cavalry raised havoc behind Confederate lines, Hooker’s massive pincer movement was ready to roll. Under the cover of darkness on the evening of April 28, the Union juggernaut began to move. Howard’s XI Corps took the lead. As a chilly rain fell, the Northern infantry stepped off with a spirit not felt since the beginning of the war. Foot soldiers from the 75th Ohio sang The Battle Hymn of the Republic as they slogged through the thick, oozing mud. Suddenly, Hooker rode past. “His bright blue eyes sparkled with pride and confidence,” remembered one infantryman. “He waved his black hat high overhead. His thick blond hair jolted in rhythm to the galloping of his horse.”

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As Howard’s men, mostly of German descent, trudged onward, Slocum’s and Meade’s corps broke camp and followed close behind. Slocum, senior to Howard and Meade, was in command. However, Fighting Joe had, in a manner of speaking, kept his cards close to his vest. The only commanders who had received any detailed instructions were Sedgwick and Stoneman. Only when the right wing of Hooker’s pincer reached Kelly’s Ford did Slocum finally get orders telling him where he was to march; he was instructed to push across the Rapidan and past Chancellorsville if the Rebels did not offer battle. If the enemy decided to fight, Slocum was to “select a strong position, and compel him to attack you on your ground.” Hooker urged Slocum to push on so that “not a moment be lost until our troops are established at or near Chancellorsville. From that moment all will be ours.”

While the Union army crossed the river, Stuart’s seasoned troopers easily snatched prisoners from the columns. When he learned the true scope of the Yankee movement, Stuart hastily sent word to the Confederate detachment at Germanna Ford. But the rider was captured en route, and Germanna Ford, as well as Ely’s Ford, would soon be in Federal hands.

Dawn on April 29 saw Sedgwick’s and Reynolds’ corps cross at Deep Run and Pollock’s Mill, as Hooker’s left wing commenced its drive toward the Army of Northern Virginia. Brigadier General Henry W. Benham, Hooker’s chief engineer, had the responsibility for laying the bridges. He soon was embroiled in an exchange of words with Brig. Gens. William T. Brooks and James S. Wadsworth. It seems that Benham also thought he was in charge of the crossing. At 1:30 a.m. his men completed the bridges, but Brig. Gen. David A. Russell refused to allow his troops to cross in the darkness. Benham summarily ordered him arrested, but nothing came of it.

At approximately 4:30 a.m., the 95th and 119th Pennsylvania regiments boarded boats and started the crossing under cover of a dense fog to secure the riverbank on the opposite side. Suddenly out of the darkness the sharp crack of muskets was heard. “Bang whiz bang–we were saluted by a volley of musketry,” recalled one Pennsylvania officer. “The greater portion of the balls flew too high over the men in the boats and too low to do us much damage.”

Once the boats reached shore, the Pennsylvanians scurried out and in short order overran the Confederates’ rifle pits. As soon as this was accomplished, the bridge building resumed at a rapid pace.

At Fitzhugh’s Crossing, the Federals ran into stiffer resistance. As the boatmen neared the riverbank, preparing to cross, Confederate sharpshooters opened up. The boatmen fled as two regiments from the famed Iron Brigade returned the Rebel fire. When word came to load the boats, the soldiers had to race across open ground to reach the craft. While their comrades covered them, the 6th Wisconsin and 24th Michigan started toward the Rebel positions with “bullets hailing around all the time.”

Opposing the Iron Brigade were the 13th Georgia and 6th Louisiana. In this instance, the blue-clad attackers had the advantage. Confederate riflemen had to stand halfway out of their parapets to get a clear shot and, in so doing, exposed themselves to the Yankee infantry. Henry Walker from the 13th Georgia later wrote to his family: “We fought there about two or three hours until our cartridges gave out and we never lost but one man while we was in the rifle pits but when we went to leave they swept our boys down like they was chaff.”

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